Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus and a control method thereof and, more particularly, to a technique for controlling display on a display unit rotatable with respect to the image capturing apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been developed an information input apparatus capable of drawing a handwritten character or figure on a display panel by designating a position on a display panel having a touch panel when a user uses a finger, electronic pen, or the like. In such an information input apparatus, the user can directly designate various buttons and menus displayed on the display panel. For this reason, the user can quickly and easily perform an input operation as compared with the operations using the cursor keys of a keyboard and a mouth.
According to these advantages, the above information input apparatus can be employed in an image capturing apparatus such as a video camera and used in a handwritten mode for combining and recording a shot image and information such as a character or figure handwritten with the electronic pen or the like.
The user can arbitrarily rotate the display panel of a video camera in normal shooting in which image capturing is performed while a display surface faces the user side and facing shooting in which the display surface faces the object side. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-41169 discloses a technique for controlling a horizontal scanning order for a handwritten input so that information handwritten-input on the display panel which is reversed vertically and horizontally is appropriately recorded.
A general video camera performs shooting while the user holds an image capturing apparatus with his right hand and a display panel is open to the left hand side with respect to a camera body. In such a display panel, when the user is a right-handed person, it is not easy to perform a handwritten input with the electronic pen because the right hand contacts the camera body. On the other hand, when the display panel is rotated toward the object side, the right hand will not contact the camera body, but the camera becomes unstable because the camera body is held with the left hand. When the camera body is placed on a flat surface so as to stabilize the camera body, it is difficult to make the electronic pen contact the display surface of the display panel because the display surface is perpendicular to the camera placement surface. As a measure for facilitating contact of the electronic pen on the display panel, there is available a method of storing the display panel rotated toward the object side by reversing the display panel with respect to the camera body. However, since the camera has many curved portions on the outer shape, the camera may not be stabilized even if it is placed on the flat surface.